When first established in 1947
the National Mapping Section was part of the Property and Survey Branch, Department
of Interior and was located in their offices in Acton, ACT (now the site of the
National Museum of Australia).

In early
1948 the Survey and Photogrammetric Office of National Mapping was established
in Melbourne due to the accommodation shortage in Canberra. For the following 50 years national mapping operations ran simultaneously from both Canberra and Melbourne.

Melbourne operationsThe first Melbourne office was in a couple of rooms in the old MLC
Building (redeveloped today) on the corner of Elizabeth and (303-309) Collins Streets, as the then Department of Interior had
their Victorian survey activities based there. GRL (Rim) Rimington, Ken Johnson and WA
(Alan) Thomson and possibly DR (Dave) Hocking comprised the staff. On 28 April
1948 the earliest national mapping map, the Tennant Creek 4 mile to 1 inch, was produced there.

By the
end of 1948 the National Mapping Office had moved across the street into accommodation
at 340 Collins Street. This building was then known as Burke
House although later photos of the building show the name Burns House on its
facade; today the building is called AUSTOCK House. In 1949, Sairveys,
a small mapping firm in Havelock Road, Hawthorn,
operated by Harry Rigby was purchased. The photogrammetric section of four
operated from there until late 1949, when Melbourne operations were centralised
in the All Saints Anglican Church Hall (Gregory Hall) in Chapel St, St Kilda. The main hall
being used for the layout of slotted template assemblies and the upper floor as
office space. However, at least one slotted template assembly
(possibly because of its areal size) was laid down in the
then Richmond Drill Hall at 24 Gipps Street (formerly the Richmond Volunteer Rifles orderly room).

A
letter signed by the then Chief Topographic Surveyor Lindsay Rimington in June 1948, requested the
construction of a Control Assembly Board 9ft by 13ft to be installed on the 5th
floor of Burke House. It is believed that as the assemblies grew larger more
space was needed hence the move to Gregory Hall.

The National
Mapping Section in the Department of the Interior became the National Mapping
Office in 1951, and was transferred to the Department of National Development on 2 July 1956 as the Division of National Mapping.

From 1959 until 1977 the
Melbourne Office was in the Rialto Building at 497 Collins Street. For an
unknown number of years a ‘Natmap store’ was located in Lonsdale Street on
the north side somewhere between Russell and Spring Streets. Around 1964-1965 field staff elements were accommodated in the nearby Dudley Buildings at 525-527 Collins Street; a few doors west of the Rialto Building. By the late 1960s, however, this accommodation and the 'Natmap store' had been moved into the Rialto.

In 1977 Natmap Melbourne moved into
a purpose built office block, Ellery House, at 280 Thomas Street, Dandenong.
The Dandenong office became part of AUSLIG’s (Australian Surveying and Land
Information Group) Victorian Regional Office in 1987 but finally closed its
doors in 1997 when all operations were centralised in Canberra.

Canberra operationsNational Mapping's Canberra operations were not housed together until 1962 when they were moved into
Derwent House in University Avenue. But as staff numbers increased a number of additional buildings
were also occupied; AMP Building (1972-1975), T&G Building, Jolimont Building, Petrie
House, GIO Building, Fyshwick Store and Lithgow Street! In addition, Census
Mapping was initially housed with Australian Bureau of Statistics in MacArthur
House.

From 1976 to 1981, Morisset
House, in Morisset Street Queanbeyan was occupied before the staff were again
relocated back to the ACT to occupy space in Unit 3 of the Cameron Offices in Chandler
Street Belconnen until AULSIG’s formation in October 1987. Throughout this
period, however, Photolithography stayed in Derwent House until moving to
purpose built accommodation in Fern Hill Park, Belconnen in March 1986.

In March 1984 the Australian Landsat
Station (ALS) responsibilities were transferred from Department of Science to
National Mapping. At the time ALS was occupying a refurbished ex-supermarket in
Oatley Court, Belconnen. The official name Australian Centre for Remote Sensing
(ACRES) was established in October 1986 with ACRES moving into purpose built
accommodation in Fern Hill Park, Belconnen in 1989.

The Division
of National Mapping had been administered by a number of departments;
commencing in 1956 under National Development; 1972 Minerals and Energy; 1975
National Resources; 1979 National Development and Energy; 1983 Resources and
Energy until 1987 with the formation of AUSLIG within Administrative Services.

As part of the administrative
arrangements associated with the formation of AUSLIG, the Bathymetric mapping
function was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy's Hydrographic Service on 1 July 1988.

From late 1987, AUSLIG’s ACT
operations were housed in Units 2 and 3 of the Cameron Offices and at the
nearby Belconnen Chambers on the corner of Cameron Avenue and Edmonstone Place.
Two surveying field party buildings were still occupied, one at “The Depot”,
Belconnen (ASO) and the other at Lithgow Street, Fyshwick (Natmap). Photolithography
operations continued at Fern Hill Park Belconnen

From 1972 until 1998 the
Geodetic Observatory at Orroral Valley, ACT which housed the Lunar Laser Ranger
was active, as well as a small out-post at Mount Stromlo, ACT. In 1998 the
Orroral Valley facility was closed and activity focussed at Mt Stromlo. The Mt
Stromlo facility was destroyed in the 2003 Canberra bushfires and after
rebuilding recommenced operations in 2004.

AUSLIG was not co-located until
the Scrivener Building opened in Fern Hill Park, Belconnen in June 1991. But
even at that time, because of the technological demands of the equipment, the
Australian Centre for Remote Sensing and the Photolithography Section continued
to be housed in adjacent buildings named the Don Gray and Lambert buildings
respectively.

In 1994, Photolithography’s
Lambert building was closed and Photolithography was co-located with ACRES in
the Don Gray building. A further consolidation of accommodation in mid-1998 saw
the abolition of Photolithography, the closure of the Don Gray building and
ACRES located within the Scrivener building.

Later developmentsTo complete the story in 2001,
AUSLIG was merged with the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) in the then Department of Industry, Science and Resources. That same year the combined agency was renamed Geoscience Australia (GA) in
view of its work in such a wide range of contexts and across many disciplines.
In 2003, AUSLIG vacated the Scrivener Building and moved into space within GA’s
existing accommodation at Symonston in the ACT. The map store remained in the same
location at Fyshwick as did a small geodetic team at Mt Stromlo.

The above detail has been arranged
into the Timeline depicted below. As well, (former Nat Mapper and later RAN officer) Paul Spencer’s paper ‘Administrative
History of the Division of National Mapping’ from The Australian Surveyor,
September 1989, Vol. 34, No. 7, pp 674-681, is provided here with permission.

At the time of writing all
National Mapping activities have been subsumed into the GA structure within the
Department of Industry (Department also covers Science, Energy, Resources, and Higher Education).
However, an ex-Natmapper Drew
Clarke as Departmental Secretary had been keeping the Natmap “flame” flickering
but with Drew’s departure (2013) Natmap’s life-support has been withdrawn!

Thanks to Alan Thomson for the additional early Melbourne history,
John Knight and Colin Kimber for completing the Canberra Office’s locations and
photos as well as Eric MacGibbon, and Bob Bobroff and the St Kilda Historical
Society, NAA and GA websites for the use of their images. Thanks also to the
many other Natmappers for their recollections in order to get the most accurate
history possible.

(Published in The
Australian Surveyor, September 1989, Vol. 34, No. 7, pp 674-681)

Introduction

The decision to compile an Administrative History of the Division
of National Mapping was taken to fulfil a requirement of a course of study at
the Canberra College of Advanced Education. It also offered an opportunity to
gain a greater understanding of the organisation which was at the forefront of
the Commonwealth survey and mapping activity for over forty years. The author’s
specific interest in this matter stems from the fact that he commenced his
survey career in the Division of National Mapping in 1974.

This paper does not attempt to list the achievements of the
Division, for there have been many, nor does it attempt to focus on the
exploits of those individuals who made them possible. Perhaps a history of the
activities and exploits of those individuals would provide a far more colourful
piece of literature than the following administrative history. Nonetheless, the
end of the Division has now occurred and it is an appropriate time to consider
its rise and fall from an administrative perspective.

Early History

The office of the Division of National Mapping (DNM) within the
Department of National Development was created by Executive Council minute of 2
August 1956 and was made public in the Commonwealth Gazette No. 47 of 16 August
1956.

The National Mapping Section in the Department of the Interior was
established in 1951, and was transferred to National Development on 2 July 1956.

At this point it is worthwhile to reflect on the development of
mapping and surveying as a Commonwealth activity prior to the creation of DNM.

The Army undertook the first Commonwealth topographic mapping in
1910, and with the formation of a dedicated mapping unit, the Royal Australian
Survey Corps in 1915, survey and mapping for defence purposes has continued to
be a function of the Army.

The Commonwealth Public Service also became involved in survey and
mapping during the early days of Federation with the establishment of the
function in the Department of Home Affairs in 1909. In 1916, Home Affairs was
abolished and the function was transferred to the new Department of Home and
Territories. Initially a small number of maps were produced for civilian purposes
and it was not until 1921 that maps were a regular product of the Department.
Thus, from the earliest days two survey and mapping organisations existed which
relied on funding through the Commonwealth Government.

The Commonwealth survey and mapping function was transferred in
1925 to the Department of Works and Railways, in 1928 to the Department of Home
Affairs and finally to the Department of the Interior where it remained for
over forty years.

In 1935, Cabinet approved the appointment of a departmental
committee chaired by the Commonwealth Surveyor-General, Mr. A. Percival,
I.S.O., which was known simply as the Commonwealth Survey Committee.
Representatives were from the Departments of Navy, Army, Air, Civil Aviation
and later Post-War Reconstruction. Its formation was in response to pressures
for the co-ordination of survey and mapping activity with a view to minimising
duplication of effort.

In February 1944, Mr F.M. Johnston succeeded Mr. Percival as the
fourth Surveyor-General and Chief Property Officer of the Department of the
Interior. Johnston’s first priority on taking up the new position was the
matter of mapping the continent. He realised that such a sparsely populated and
large country could not be mapped in close detail like Great Britain. Apart
from the more densely populated areas, the early surveying and mapping
activities were primarily undertaken to meet the requirements of early
settlement. This work was confined to the better lands and, in the main,
depicted detail on the horizontal plane. As was the trend elsewhere, it was
realised that the vertical plane, that is, heights, also needed to be
considered. From the experiences of war, such maps were essential for defence
and the movement of modern land forces. The demand for topographic maps came
also from those instrumentalities involved with civil aviation, water
conservation and other environmental management activities.

The Department of Post-War Reconstruction at this time was
evaluating options for Commonwealth involvement in projects which would
facilitate the development of the nation while at the same time providing
employment for returned servicemen in worthwhile endeavours. The Department
recommended that the survey and mapping of Australia be undertaken as a basis
for future national development. This spurred Mr. Johnston to organise a
conference between the Commonwealth Survey Committee and the State
Surveyors-General for the purpose of considering the national survey and
mapping of Australia.

To this end, in 1945 a conference was held in Canberra under the
Chairmanship of Mr. Johnston and in attendance were the three Services
represented by the RAN Hydrographic Service, the RA Survey Corps and the RAAF
Aerial Photography Section. The Departments of Civil Aviation, Post-War
Reconstruction and Interior, the Surveyors-General from the six States, and as
an observer, the New Zealand Surveyor-General, Mr R.G. Dick. The Hansard staff
recorded the proceedings which are contained in a 100-page report.

Thirteen resolutions were adopted including a resolution which
stated that a National Mapping Council be formed with a number of functions,
including:

to co-ordinate and correlate mapping on a national basis;
and

to recommend the allocation of
Commonwealth funds provided for national mapping.

A resolution entrusted the Commonwealth Surveyor-General, as the
Director of National Mapping, with responsibility for the execution of the
functions mentioned above. To assist in these duties it was recommended that a
Deputy Director of National Mapping be appointed.

The meeting also resolved that there was a particular need for
existing Service mapping activities to be maintained and the Army be recognised
as a competent agency to conduct the work on the basic 1 and 4 miles to an inch
topographic maps and the Navy to continue essential charting activities for
defence, developmental and commercial purposes.

It further resolved that the States carry out such topographic and
charting work as they consider necessary.

A copy of these resolutions was forwarded by the Prime Minister to
each of the State Premiers for acceptance, and were subsequently agreed.

In 1946, a Deputy Director was appointed in the Property and
Survey Branch of the Department of the Interior to assist the Commonwealth Surveyor-General
in his duties and to concentrate on the technical activities arising from the
creation of the National Mapping Council. The Deputy Director’s sphere of
activity was increased in 1947 when a separate National Mapping Section was
created within the Property and Survey Branch.

Activities within the new National Mapping Section expanded
considerably and, by 1950, there existed the necessary impetus to push for a
greater co-ordination role in the Commonwealth mapping sphere. A number of
Departments, namely Development, Railways, Aviation and Construction had
established small survey and mapping sections to service their departmental
requirements. At this time the Deputy Director became Director of National
Mapping and, with the agreement of the States, Chairman of the National Mapping
Council.

Following a review of Commonwealth mapping requirements by the
Public Service Board, a memorandum to all Permanent Heads and Chief Officers
was issued calling for greater effort in minimising duplication of effort
amongst Departments. To achieve this, it directed, inter alia,

should be the Director of National Mapping, Department of
the Interior.’

In 1951, Major-General R. Brown, Director-General of the Ordinance
Survey of Great Britain, visited Australia on an invitation from the Minister
for the Army. The Minister wished to obtain advice on the roles and functions
of the Survey Corps and on issues relating to the co-ordination of national
mapping activities. Major-General Brown reported the Survey Corps was more
involved than any other organisation in national survey and mapping. Brown
recommended an enquiry by an independent body to assess the need for national
mapping as a Commonwealth activity. He also recommended the formation of a
single authority responsible for all geodetic, topographic survey and mapping
required for all Commonwealth purposes. Action was not taken to have an
independent review of the national mapping requirement. The Recommendations
were strongly debated at successive National Mapping Council meetings and
inter-departmental conferences over the next two years.

A number of the above recommendations were included in a Public
Service Board submission to Cabinet in July 1954. Cabinet decided that the
Department of the Interior should be the single authority for all Commonwealth
topographic survey and mapping meeting defence as well as civilian needs. It
also established the standing Advisory Committee on Commonwealth Mapping
(ACOCM), consisting of the Permanent Head of Interior, a nominee of the
Minister for the Army and a nominee, to be selected by the Minister of the
Interior from a panel submitted by the Institution of Surveyors, Australia.

The Cabinet decision also placed with the Authority, namely the
Department of the Interior, all responsibilities for geodetic and topographic
surveys and mapping in the Department of the Army. The decision also required
Army to second to the Authority, on specific tours of full-time civil duty, all
staff normally employed on geodetic and topographic surveys and mapping.

The Commonwealth Survey Committee, since the creation of the
National Mapping Council in 1946, had become an ineffectual forum and was
disbanded by the 1954 Cabinet decision.

In 1954, ACOCM recommended that basic topographic mapping at
scales of 1:50 000 to 1:1 000 000 be accepted as forming the Commonwealth
Topographic Survey and the activities of the National Mapping Section be
directed primarily towards the production of these maps.

The Department of the Army found difficulty with the 1954 Cabinet
decision in connection with the secondment of personnel to the National Mapping
Section. Primarily these problems may be traced to the difficulties of the
employment of personnel within the same operational organisation operating
under two different Acts of Parliament, namely the Defence Act and the Public
Service Act. The responsible Ministers agreed, in 1955, to an arrangement
whereby Army continued to carry out mapping work under Army control and would
provide services to the National Mapping Section on an agency basis.

It was also found, in practice, that not all Army responsibilities
could be transferred to the Authority, notably those arising from international
agreements such as SEATO which were not of direct significance in the
development of Australia.

In 1956, Prime Minister Menzies announced in the House of
Representatives that the National Mapping functions of the Department of the
Interior were to be transferred to the Department of National Development. The
loss of these functions occurred with such suddenness that it caused
considerable dissatisfaction leading to increasingly uneasy relationships.

This point in the paper represents the completion of the overview
of developments which led to the Division of National Mapping creation by
executive Council minute of 2 August 1956. The remainder of the paper focuses
on the administrative history of the Division to the changes brought about by
Administrative arrangement Order of 24 July 1987. This will be followed by a
summary of the results of the dismantling process.

Three Decades of the
Division of National Mapping

By 1964, ACOCM had grown to include membership of the Secretaries
of Navy, Army, Interior, and National Development (Chairman) and a
representative of The Institution of Surveyors, Australia.

At the February 1965 ACOCM meeting, an agreement was adopted which
developed from the 1954 Cabinet decision which noted:

Department of National
Development, Division of National Mapping, is the single authority with full
responsibility for all geodetic and topographic mapping required for
Commonwealth purposes, and for the co-ordination of these surveys and mapping
with those of the States.

Attempts earlier by the Secretary, Department of National
Development to have the 1954 Cabinet decision changed by a submission through
the Public Service Board to Cabinet were unsuccessful. In 1963 the Public
Service board found that, inter alia:

‘In regard to the question of
whether Cabinet should be informed of or asked to endorse the various
administrative arrangements which have been made since 1954, the Board’s view
is that such action is not essential. Informal consultation with the Prime
Minister’s Department supports this view.’

Thus, the role of the Division of National Mapping, while being
agreed at the Departmental level, was never endorsed by Cabinet. This was to
prove a considerable administrative handicap in future inter-departmental
interactions and in the evolving relationships between the Director, the
National Mapping Council and the State authorities.

The Division of National Mapping, at this time, was directed by
B.P. Lambert, O.B.E, a capable surveyor and administrator, who had been at the
head of the function since its creation in 1946 when he was appointed as the
Deputy Director, National Mapping Section of the Property and Survey Branch of
the Department of the Interior. As Chairman of the National Mapping Council, he
was required to consult with individual members and draw up, for Council
approval, operational plans for the National Geodetic and Levelling Survey,
which was successfully completed in 1967 and 1971 respectively. The Levelling
Survey was completed on time and within budget making it probably the most
successful national survey undertaken. This was mainly due to the co-ordinating
efforts of the members of the National Mapping Council, the Director of
National Mapping and the survey contractors who completed a significant
proportion of the work. Lambert was also closely involved with many
international survey and mapping authorities, both civilian and military, until
his retirement in 1977.

In 1954, the task of commencing a national mapping program was
formidable and the decision was to undertake a preliminary mapping phase at the
1:250 000 scale. The first full map coverage of Australia was completed in
1968. Most of these maps were not contoured. The specifications applied to the
production of the 1:250 000 maps were civilian in nature and thus were not well
suited for defence needs. Army, on the other hand, was producing maps which met
the geographic information needs of the military. Army and National Mapping
continued to produce these maps in mutual areas thus duplicating each other’s
activities.

In 1965, acting on a submission from the Minister for National
Development, Cabinet approved a program of 1:100 000 mapping of Australia to be
completed by the end of 1975. The decision authorised the Department of
National Development, inter alia,

‘to organise and enter upon it
on the basis that priority be given to the mapping of Northern Australia.’

In the associated submission there were indications that Army was
to undertake part of the work and it was also intended to make substantial use
of the private sector. The broad case for such a mammoth task rested not only
on defence requirements but also the useful purposes it would serve in
Australia’s development, especially in the Northern Territory, and assessing
Australia’s natural resources, including the location of oil and minerals. The
program has been actively pursued. However, partly due to insufficient
resources, completion has not occurred and is now expected by 1989.

By 1967, the whole of Australia had been covered by air
photography for the first time and quite a reasonable area had been covered by
contoured medium scale maps. In the same year, the National Geodetic Survey was
completed to the stage of providing a basis for the physical co-ordination of
mapping and the National Mapping council had adopted a National Geodetic Datum.

On 11 March 1970, Cabinet decided to vest responsibility in the
Division of National Mapping for a program to map the continental shelf of
Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 to be completed by 1980. The Bathymetric
Mapping Branch was established in 1971 with a small staff. The program
commenced on a contract footing. However, these were later terminated. In May
1973, the Division commenced operations utilising the Department of Transport’s
ship M.V. Cape Pillar. For a short period another Department of Transport ship,
M.V. Cape Don, was also chartered.

Aspects of the bathymetric program came to Cabinet’s attention on
two other occasions. On the 23 February 1981, Cabinet approved an increase in
charter time for M.V. Cape Pillar and, on 25 June 1984, Cabinet approved the
retention of M.V. Cape Pillar to support the bathymetric program and the joint
Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence deep water hydrographic survey aid
project in the South West Pacific Region.

By 1972, except for the Division of National Mapping, the Army
Survey Corps and RAN Hydrographic Service, the Property and Survey Branch of
the Department of the Interior consisted of a consolidation of all remaining
Commonwealth survey and mapping functions. The Branch included in its
activities the administering of Land Acts pertaining to Commonwealth lands
throughout the country and continued to be actively involved in the planning
and execution of surveys in the national capital.

Also in 1972, with the abolition of the Department of the
Interior, the Property and Survey Branch transferred to the newly created
Department of Services and Property. In 1973, the Branch reached Divisional
status and was renamed the Australian Survey Office with the Commonwealth
Surveyor-General as its head.

In December 1972, the Division of National Mapping transferred to
the newly created Department of Minerals and Energy. In the course of the next
ten years, the Division was transferred on the following occasions; December
1975 to National Resources, December 1977 to National Development, December
1979 to National Development and Energy and finally, in March 1983, to
Resources and Energy. Each new Department merely represented an administrative
renaming and not a physical move to another existing Department.

In 1976, the Administrative Review Committee produced the Bland
Report which dealt with the matter of Commonwealth survey and mapping. It
recommended that there was no advantage in amalgamating the Division with the
Australian Survey Office since the two divisions had different purposes and
duplication is minimised through regular informal liaison. As pointed out
above, since the abolition of ACOCM, no formal structures existed for
co-ordination of Commonwealth survey and mapping other than the National
Mapping Council whose efforts were directed more towards Commonwealth/State
matters.

In August 1981, arising from the Review of Commonwealth functions,
the Ministers of three Departments involved in survey and mapping at the
Commonwealth level directed a group chaired by the Public Service Board to
examine and report on the scope for merging Commonwealth organisations
responsible for survey and mapping activities. The review group consisted of
members from the Division of National Mapping, Department of Development and
Energy, Australian Survey Office, Department of Administrative Services and
Royal Australian Survey Corps and RAN Hydrographic Services, Department of
Defence. The report (Moran Report) recommended that, inter alia:

‘there should be no merging of
the four organisations…nor any transfer of functions between organisations.’

Acting on a further recommendation in the above Report, Cabinet
directed the establishment of the Commonwealth Co-ordinating Group on Mapping,
Charting and Surveying (CCGMCS) in October 1981 with a charter to improve
consultation and co-ordination of Commonwealth mapping, charting and surveying
activities. The CCGMCS was chaired by the Department of National Development
and Energy with membership from the Department of Defence and the Department of
Administrative Services, each at the Deputy-Secretary level. The members of the
group were assisted by technical advisers at the Director level from each of
the four Commonwealth survey and mapping organisations. The Group met three
times in its first year and produced an Initial Report to Ministers (1982) which
was never endorsed. Furthermore, the minutes of the meetings were never agreed,
due in part to conflicting views on the matter of responsibility for mapping at
1:50 000 scale. The Group did not meet thereafter.

The Division of National Mapping staff level declined from 484 in
1976 to 295 in 1985 with the most dramatic reduction occurring from the 1976
level to 319 in 1978. While this reduction cannot be attributed to one single
factor, it can be assumed that the Public Service staff reduction policy of
successive Governments and completion of many of the major survey and mapping
programs each played their part.

In July 1984, Cabinet directed a further review of topographic
mapping to be undertaken. This decision, in part, arose from a dispute between
the Division of National Mapping and Army over responsibility for progressing
the larger scale and more resource-intensive 1:50 000 scale mapping. Professor
J.E. Richardson was commissioned by the Public Service Board to undertake the
review. The Richardson Report was produced mid-1986 and it has yet to be released.
However, it is clear his findings had a far-reaching effect on Commonwealth
survey and mapping.

In the Administrative Arrangements Order of July 1987, all
functions of the Division of National Mapping were brought together with those
of the Australian Survey Office, within the new Department of Administrative
Services. Within a few days, the two organisations were amalgamated to form the
Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG). The bathymetric
mapping function was transferred from AUSLIG to the RAN Hydrographic Service on
1 July 1988.

A Department of Administrative Services Press Release in October
1988 mentioned that Cabinet had decided to retain the majority of the
ex-National Mapping functions within AUSLIG on the basis that generally the
functions could not be considered on a ‘user pays principle’ but should be
classified as activities ‘undertaken in the public interest’ which are to be
fully funded from the Budget.

Thus, as was the situation prior to the creation of the Division
of National Mapping, the Commonwealth Surveyor-General is again responsible for
advising government on issues relating to surveying and mapping and
representing the Commonwealth at survey and mapping forums.

The last National Mapping Council was held in 1986 and it ceased
to formally exist when its prime functions were subsequently assumed by a new
committee called the Inter Government Advisory Committee on Surveying and
Mapping (IGACSM) which held its inaugural meeting in July 1988. Like the NMC,
IGACSM was formally constituted by agreement between the Prime Minister, State
Premiers and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. Perhaps the major
difference between IGACSM and its predecessor is that the position of Chairman
rotates biennially amongst members, thus giving the States equal status in
matters related to national survey and mapping.

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges with appreciation the assistance given by
Mr B. Willington, Mr P. O’Donnell and Mr L. McLean in providing a valuable
source of secondary information.

References

A.G. Bomford. The Role of a National Mapping Organisation,
Survey Review Vol XXV No 195 January 1980.

B.P. Lambert. The National Mapping Council of Australia Forty
Years On. The Australian Surveyor, Vol 32, No. 8, December 1985.